An obvious loser from the Baltimore Ravens offseason was James Proche. Proche was a sixth-round pick in 2020 and maybe a cautionary tale about some of the picks that fans get excited about. There started to become a little too much hype for the sixth-rounder and he never lived up to it. Now, he is on his fourth and final season of his rookie contract, and he may not even get that far, as the Baltimore Ravens may release him in training camp.
Is James Proche officially outside of Baltimore Ravens roster?
I do not have to tell you about the Baltimore Ravens' offseason moves. More than just drafting Zay Flowers and signing Odell Beckham the team also added Nelson Agholor. When you add in Rashod Bateman, they have more of a firm top-four than any season Proche has seen.
The reality is that he lost a competition to Devin Duvernay a while ago, and Duvernay never looked back. So, we are talking about a player who is competing to be the fifth or sixth wide receiver. It is going to come down to Tylan Wallace and James Proche, and it will probably come down to a training camp battle.
The issue here for Proche is that he is coming in as an underdog. Tylan Wallace was a fourth-round pick, and he was drafted a year after Proche, so he has another year under contract that Proche does not. Wallace also has 397 special teams in two seasons, while Proche has 191 in that same time span.
The only thing that Proche has over Wallace is health, and Wallace does not have the best history of being able to stay healthy. Still, Proche has had bumps and bruises as well. The Baltimore Ravens are typically not a team that is known for keeping six wide receivers, but you can see that there is an all-in commitment to keeping Lamar Jackson healthy.
Beyond that, both of these wideouts do enough on special teams to make a roster as the sixth wideout. Still, they are not keeping seven, and you can make a strong case that James Proche is entering the 2023 season as the seventh wideout on this depth chart.